What's on this album? Now that it's finalized, I can understand (more or less) what I set out to do. Up until now, it was out of the question to conceptualize anything, just write and record, period. It reflects what goes on in my head, reflecting my tastes: it's sometimes simple, sometimes complex, often contradictory. It's my certainties, my doubts, my anger, my sadness, my jaded laughter, but also all the hope I have left in the face of what surrounds me, what is crumbling, what still stands, once again put into words and music. It's my record collection put through a grinder and then a juicer: from noisy rock to heavy hip hop, from freestyle guitar to primitive analog synth riffs. It's this puzzle of eclectic fragments of words and sounds that inhabit my brain and that I, this time, intentionally left a bit messy. These past few years have been complicated for a lot of people, including me. There was the passing of Joseph Ponthus, who had become a close friend (there's a song for him on the album) as well as a series of rather difficult personal and family events. I didn't want to come back with an overwhelming album but rather with a fireball screaming, frenetically thrashing in all directions. A backflip over chaos. During an American tour with Binary Audio Misfits in the late 2000s, just as we were about to go on stage in a rundown club with a faulty sound system without having done a soundcheck, my friend Jason, one of the Texan rappers in the band, told me: "It's time to turn shit into gold." And since nothing is simple with me, this album will be performed live as a trio, because yes, it's nice to be alone but only up to a certain point. I'll be reunited with Julien Rufié, who contributed to the rhythmic programming of two tracks on the album and who, in concert, will be controlling the drums, electronic sounds, and his analog synth. There will also be Manon Labry, from the band No Milk Today, on guitar and bass. Each person added their own little bit of spice, their personal arrangements. Power trio? Absolutely. I can confidently say that the spirit of the album is totally preserved. Michel Cloup is a songwriter, singer, guitarist, and sound manipulator. He has been part of important bands in the independent French rock scene. From Lucievacarme, Diabologum, and Peter Parker Experience in the 90s, through Expérience and Binary Audio Misfits in the 2000s, to his duo formation between 2010 and 2020. He also regularly collaborates with contemporary art (and artist Béatrice Utrilla), cinema (and director Jean-Gabriel Périot), or theater (with author and director Stéphane Arcas).
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